Even more reason not to have Romney as VP...

...President Bush and Karl Rove are all about it.

Jonah Goldberg touts Palin for Veep

Writing over at NRO's The Corner, Goldberg says (emphasis mine):

I'm more and more keen on Sarah Palin. [...] Palin is tackling the establishment in Alaska, including the oil and gas industry (much to the chagrin of some of my relatives!). She's attractive (former Ms. Alaska). She could get some real profile out of this polar bear lawsuit. She reinforces McCain's outsider-reformer-Western credentials. And, for the moderate soccer mom types who were all jazzed about Hillary being the first woman president, she might win a few suburbanite female swing-voters for the same reason. Obama is going to have to pick a boring white guy precisely because he's not one. McCain doesn't need to pick a boring white guy because he's got that locked up already.

Part of the reason I feel that it is so important that McCain chooses someone like Gov. Palin or Gov. Bobby Jindal are the multiple polls showing generic Republicans losing to generic Democrats. In the mind of the public, "generic Republican" means a white, probably Southern, older man. Like it or not, McCain needs to choose someone who's not a white man as the veep. And, preferably, it will be someone like Palin who is a true conservative.

About McCain's VP selection committee head...

Contrary to popular belief, Sen. McCain will not be heading up his veep selection process himself. While McCain may be "chairing" that committee, a former Reagan official (from 1987-1989) named Arthur B. Culvahouse will be heading with search. As with most things McCain, the "Reagan official" tag is a nice smokescreen for Culvahouse's moderate leanings (emphasis mine):

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has tapped a former Reagan administration official to head his campaign’s search for a vice presidential nominee.

Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander (Tenn.) told The Hill that Arthur Culvahouse, who was Reagan’s White House counsel from March 1987 to January 1989, will be helping McCain vet candidates and develop a list.

[...]

Culvahouse has been active in GOP circles, consistently contributing thousands of dollars to Republican candidates. He donated to McCain in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Other Republicans that Culvahouse has contributed to include Sens. Alexander, Arlen Specter (Pa.) and Richard Lugar (Ind.).

I can tell you that most Reagan Conservatives are just so darn excited about Sens. Lugar and Specter that they can't help but donate to their campaigns. Even Sen. Alexander's American Conservative Union rating is only a 72 - and his is the highest of the three by 12 points and 32 points, respectively. If who Mr. Culvahouse is donating to is any indication of the type of people he might choose, we're in for a longgggggg 2008 election season.

On the other hand, at least Culvahouse has some good instincts:

He also publicly supported the controversial nomination of John Bolton to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in 2005.

McCain/Bolton '08? If only...

Gov. Jindal's proper role

There has been a lot of buzz around Gov. Bobby Jindal of late, especially after the media found out he was spending Memorial Day at Sen. John McCain's place in Scottsdale, Arizona with several other potential vice presidents.

While I'm not ashamed to say that I'd be one of the first people to join a Jindal '12 campaign, I don't think he's ready for the national stage...yet. But there is something that could both introduce him to the nation and prepare him for national scrutiny and campaigning:

Which is why I think Jindal's a long-shot here. He's too young, and whatever "ageism" the Louisiana governor might offset being on the ticket undercuts McCain's central theme of Obama's inexperience. Jindal's presence at McCain's home could very well be just an acknowledgment that Jindal is now a central figure in Republican politics. It could be something more.

[...]

But let's remember what launched Obama on the national scene: It was his 2004 convention speech in Boston. Almost immediately Obama's name entered the list of potential candidates. Without that, Obama, who would have won his Senate seat anyway, would almost certainly not be running today.

I think this analysis is largely correct. Sen. McCain needs to have a vice president that is younger than him, but not one that is so young that it highlights his old age even more. Giving Gov. Jindal a prominent speaking slot at the convention would give him exposure, and provide the country with a reminder that hope^tm and change^tm have the be actions, not words. I think a case can be made that Gov. Jindal has brought hope and change to the citizens of Louisiana, while Sen. Obama has just provided flowery, generic speeches.

To be honest, I can't see Gov. Jindal running for president in 2012, either. I think that McCain will probably choose Mitt Romney and limit himself to one term (if he wins). And, since Republicans tend to nominate the person "whose turn it is", you can expect a Romney nomination in 2012 whether McCain wins or loses, with Gov. Jindal (who would by then be in his second term as governor) chosen as Mitt's VP.

The Long (Veepstakes) Weekend

Sen. McCain is is taking a, ahem, "purely social" break from campaigning to host a Memorial Day getaway in Arizona for some Republican (and Independent) officeholders:

The Memorial Day guest list at Sen. John McCain's Arizona home runs to at least three Republicans mentioned as vice presidential running mates, but a top aide said Wednesday that vetting possible veeps is not on the agenda.

"It's purely social," said Mark Salter, a senior adviser to McCain.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney were all invited to a Memorial Day gathering at the senator's home in Sedona, Ariz. Romney ran for the Republican presidential nomination in last winter's primaries, but dropped out months ago and has endorsed McCain.

[...]

Among other guests expected were Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., close confidantes of McCain.

Hmmm. The good news: Mike Huckabee isn't there, while Gov. Bobby Jindal and (sigh) Gov. Mitt Romney are.

The bad news: McCain, apparently, sees moderate Florida Gov. Charlie Crist as an acceptable choice for vice president. Also, Lieberman and Graham will be there, although there is a real possibility that those two are just there for social reasons.

Out of those choices, my favorite is, of course, Jindal. He's the best conservative for the job, although there is a risk of him ruining his future by signing on to a losing campaign. (Even though I would support him right out of the gate in 2012 should he run for VP and lose to Obama.)

Gov. Palin goes after Pres. Bush

She is suing the U.S. government to keep it from listing the polar bear as a threatened species, a move which was designed primarily to destroy capitalism rather than help polar bears:

“We appreciate the Secretary’s recognition that oil and gas activities are already regulated under the Marine Mammal Protection Act to prevent impacts to the polar bear and do not pose a threat to the polar bear,” Governor Palin said.

[...]

“While climate change is a significant issue, the Endangered Species Act is not the right tool to address impacts to a species from climate change,” Attorney General Talis Colberg said.

“Inappropriate implementation of this listing decision could result in widespread social and economic impacts, including increased power costs and further increases in fuel prices, without providing any more protection for the species,” Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Irwin said.

“While the state is challenging the listing, we remain committed to assuring Alaska’s polar bears are conserved,” Governor Palin said. “The state will continue to monitor Alaska’s polar bear populations and their behaviors in relation to changing sea ice conditions.”

This is what a real maverick looks like, Sen. McCain.

Huckabee vs. Palin: VP Madness Final Round!

CQ's VP Madness is (you guessed it) in the final round, and it is between Gov. Mike Huckabee and Gov. Sarah Palin.

Right now, Huckabee is ahead of Palin 54% to 45%.

If Huckabee wins this thing, I will lose all faith in humanity, so go there ASAP and vote for Sarah Palin.

In case you didn't notice...

I didn't really do any blogging today. Yeah, I know, I'm lazy. I had a choice between waking up at 7:30 am, going to a job interview, coming back and sleeping, or doing the interview and then blogging. Sleep won out.

What else would you expect from a moron?

I might blog form work tonight if something catches my eye, but otherwise you're on your own until tomorrow.

In the meantime, head over to CQ for round 3 of VP Madness. It's narrowed down to 8 (my choice is emphasized): Mike Huckabee vs. Mark Sanford, Tim Pawlenty vs. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Sarah Palin vs. Bobby Jindal, and Rob Portman vs. Charlie Crist.

Some nice self-delusion from Sen. Murkowski...

The Hill asked the 97 remaining members of the U.S. Senate whether they would consider the vice presidency if their nominee offered. Sen. Murkowski provided this response (which literally made me laugh out loud in the middle of work):

“My name has been discussed partly because I’m a female and it’s always nice to balance things in gender … I’ve discussed it with my kids. My 16-year-old thinks it’s a fabulous idea because he thinks we probably couldn’t find any better residence in Washington, D.C., than the Naval Observatory. That’s the fun part of the question, but I think anybody, if you were seriously asked, I think you have to give it very real and genuine consideration. I don’t expect to be asked, but if I were I would give it real and genuine consideration.”

Seriously? Her "name has been discussed"? I'm addicted to veepstakes speculation and I have never heard her name discussed. Does anyone think that a politician who was only thrust upon the national stage due to nepotism is the way to win in 2008?

The most depressing story I've read all election season.

Granted, stories and rumors like this abound before the VP is chosen, but this name shouldn't be on any list:

Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and defeated contender for the GOP presidential nomination, is currently at the top of John McCain's short list for a running mate. At least that's the word from a top McCain fundraiser and longtime Republican moneyman who has spoken to McCain's inner circle. The fundraiser is less than thrilled with the idea of Huckabee as the vice presidential nominee, and many economic conservatives—turned off by the populist tone of Huckabee's campaign and his tax record as governor—are likely to share that marked lack of enthusiasm.

Ughhhhhhhhhhhh.

The problem with this line of thought is that it wasn't just economic conservatives who thought it was a bad idea to have Huckabee on the ticket. National security conservatives opposed him because of his lack of foreign policy experience and on the basis of how easily swayed he was on abandoning Guantanamo Bay. Some social conservatives liked that he was a Christian, but disliked his use of identity politics. Conservatives of all stripes can question his previous, liberal stances on issues ranging from crime to immigration.

If McCain's team is so inept that they don't realize that conservatives of all stripes have reason to oppose Huckabee, they deserve to lose.

Why I'm against a Jindal vice presidency in two words.

Mitch Landrieu. He is the current Democratic lieutenant governor of Louisiana and brother of Sen. Mary Landrieu.

If Gov. Bobby Jindal joins McCain's ticket, all the progress he has made in the last few months won't be worth anything. The state will just be run by another Democrat hack from a legacy political family.

I think its best that we let Jindal incubate in Baton Rouge for a while, and have him run in 2012 or 2016. If McCain wants a reform-minded, non-boring, non-white guy governor on his ticket, he should go with Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. She has all of Jindal's positives, more experience governing, and is heading a state not at risk of falling into Democratic hands.

"We shouldn't be asking 'Why us?' We should be saying 'Well, why not us?'"

Last month Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin gave birth to her fifth son, whom she has revealed has Down syndrome. There's a good article in the Associated Press today about the situation:

The results of Gov. Sarah Palin's prenatal testing were in, but the doctor's tone was ominous: "You need to come to the office so we can talk about it."

Palin, known for a resolve that quickly launched her from suburban hockey mom to a player on the national political stage, said "No, go ahead and tell me over the phone."

The physician replied "Down syndrome," stunning the Republican governor who had just completed what many political analysts called a startling first year in office.

[...]

The 44-year-old governor waited a few days before telling her husband Todd, who was out of town, so she could understand what was ahead for them.

Once her husband got the news, he told her: "We shouldn't be asking 'Why us?' We should be saying 'Well, why not us?'"

There was never any doubt the Palins would have the child, and on April 18 she gave birth to Trig Paxon Van Palin.

"We've both been very vocal about being pro life," Palin said. "We understand that every innocent life has wonderful potential."

Glenn Beck, who is also the parent of a child with special needs, talked about Sarah and Trig Palin on his show the other day:



Great story.

(Unrelated, but the following line from the article gives me pause about a VP bid for Palin: "She stood up to the powerful oil industry, and with bipartisan support in the statehouse she won a tax increase on oil companies' profits." Hmmmm....)

VP Madness Brackets

CQ has an incredibly nerdy NCAA-like bracket game up to help pick John McCain's vice presidential nominee. Here is the link.

Make no mistake, there are tough choices. For example, who would you pick between Sen. Lindsay Graham and Gov. Mike Huckabee? (I chose Sen. Graham. Yes, my dislike of Huckabee goes that deep.)

19 rules for McCain's running mate...

Over at RedState, Dan McLaughlin has a list of veepstakes do's and don't's. It's a handy little list, albeit one that completely takes any dark horses or otherwise interesting picks off the table.

The "Don't's" list eliminates consideration of the following people:

- Sen. Joe Lieberman
- Sen. John Thune
- Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchenson
- Sen. Lindsay Graham
- possibly Rep. Marsha Blackburn
- Rep. Eric Cantor
- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
- former Representative and SEC Chairman Chris Cox
- former Representative and OMB Chairman Rob Portman
- former Sen. Fred Thompson
- former Sen. Phil Graham
- Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri
- Gov. Bobby Jindal
- Gov. Sarah Palin
- Gov. Matt Blunt
- former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele
- former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina
- NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani
- Gov. Charlie Crist
- former governor and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge
- Rep. Ron Paul
- possibly Sen. Tom Coburn
- Sen. Chuck Hagel
- Gov. Haley Barbour
- former Rep. JC Watts
- former Rep. John Kasich
- former Gov. Jeb Bush
- Sen. Elizabeth Dole
- Gov. Linda Lingle

The "Do's" list leaves the following three people:

- former Gov. Mitt Romney
- Gov. Mark Sanford
- Gov. Tim Pawlenty
- Gov. Jon Huntsman

Naturally, since this is RedState, they seem to be focused on the most boring choice possible: Mitt Romney. What is interesting about this is that Mitt Romney breaks several of the "don't's" they have listed. Despite his looks, the man is 61 years old, he would have lost the governorship in 2006 had he chose to run for re-election, and he is a one-term governor. And let's face it: the only reason conservatives even flocked to him at all was because he was seen as the anti-McCain. Choosing Mitt would be a bad idea.

UPDATE: David Freddoso points out another possible VP for McCain : Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman. I added him to the list.

The darkest of dark horses

I had held off even mentioning Carly Fiorina as a possible choice for Sen. McCain's running mate, but VP Watch has pointed out this news item that suggests we may have to start looking into her background:

Former HP chief Carly Fiorina is rumored to be near the top of a very short list of possible Vice Presidential candidates.

Fiorina has already joined the Republican National Committee as the party's "Victory Chairman." She has been promoting presumed GOP presidential candidate John McCain on the campaign trail. "John McCain has the right vision for our country and the character, experience and judgment to lead," she has said.

While the article goes on to point out that this could just be a red herring to trow off the Democrats, I think it's worth looking into.

Her obvious positives: as a former CEO and business leader she knows more about the economy than McCain, she brings gender diversity to the GOP ticket (which will be especially helpful if Sen. Obama gets the nomination), and she has the executive experience that Sen. McCain lacks. Now, on to the negatives.

Fiorina's most glaring negative is that she has never run for any public office before. While she has done some campaigning for Sen. McCain already, it is my understanding that this campaigning has been confined to the business/technology community. McCain needs a VP who is at home on the campaign trail and can connect with everyday workers with as much ease as they connect with executives. Having never run for office, most of Fiorina's views outside of business issues are unknown. If she is socially conservative (which is what McCain will need), she has to be able to prove it somehow. Her tenure as CEO at Hewlett-Packard ended when she was forced to resign by board members due to what they saw as poor performance.

As I said before, most of her views are unknown. However, she has done some interviews which have touched on important political issues. She, like McCain, sees great promise in guest worker programs for foreign workers:

I think first of all the H-1B Visa program is very important to the technology industry. The American people get concerned and understandably emotional about it when they perhaps don’t understand the differences between the H-1B Visa program and illegal immigration. So we have to make these differences clear because as McCain said, illegal immigration is a hugely emotional issue and it’s a very difficult issue in a state like California. So we have to be very open and specific about why the H-1B Visa program bears no resemblance to illegal immigration. We also then have to recognize that American workers all over this country are increasingly concerned about their ability to compete against foreign workers, whether those foreign workers are outside our country or whether they’re coming into our country.

However, in the interview quote above, she segues into the need to retrain American workers, so that businesses are less reliant on guest worker programs in the future.

On Iraq, Fiorina doesn't seem to be anti-war, but she may have doubts over whether it was the right thing to do in the first place:

Whatever people think about how we got here, what we do now is a matter of grave importance. And Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama think that what we should do is depart even though we're finally starting to see success. John McCain believes that we need to build on the success that we've seen in the last year or so and win in Iraq - not because he wants to stay there for 100 years but in fact because he believes a stable country is in our interests.

In my heart, I think it takes a soldier to bring us home with victory and honor. I think it takes a soldier, someone who really understands war - how terrible it is, the cost of war, the price of war - I think it takes someone who really understands it, to finish it.

On a better note, she doesn't seem like the type of person to play the gender card. For example, she has questioned Fortune magazine's list of top female executives:

It’s a terrific thing to highlight women leaders ... [but] the list sends the wrong message. The list says women have to compete against each other one to 50, because they can’t play with the big boys. It’s not the fact that they’re highlighted that’s the problem. ... I think part of the reason we haven’t made as much progress as we should is that women leaders are thought of as different somehow. There is no men’s list.

I'm sure that if Sen. McCain is seriously considering her for VP, we'll subtly start learning about more of her personal views on political topics outside the realm of business. But, as I wrote this post, I have become increasinly convinced that this won't be the case. McCain will have to bring his A game this year, and choosing an RNC insider unknown to most voters might not be the best idea.

We'll see.

Jindal and Jay

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is going to be on The Tonight Show next Monday. VP Watch has the press release from NBC.

Trig Palin

Yeah, I don't get that name either. But anyways, Gov. Sarah Palin gave birth to a new son yesterday morning. Hopefully she can be ready to go if Sen. McCain chooses her for his vice president. We now have confirmation that she'd like that job, by the way.

You can send her congratulations here.

McCain: No Pro-choice VP

Who does this rule out? According to Nachama Soloveichik at the Club for Growth, this would mean that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (who McCain may not need to carry Florida anyway), Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, and Sen. Joe Lieberman shouldn't count on being at the bottom of McCain's ticket this fall. (NYC Mayor Nanny Michael Bloomberg would fall into this category as well.)

What is mildly surprising about this statement from McCain is that this throws four of the most maverick-y choices he could make for vice president out the window, even a couple from swing states that he needs in his column this fall.

UPDATE: In other veepstakes news, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford: Are he and McCain on the outs, or are they just fine?

Why Michael Steele won't be Vice President

The former Lt. Gov. of Maryland is more moderate than you think:

In 2006, Steele was very much seen as a rising star in the conservative movement, but he has since joined up with Christine Todd Whittman's liberal Republican group, the Republican Leadership Council (RLC)--a reincarnation of It's My Party Too. RLC claims to support "fiscally conservative, socially inclusive Republican candidates," but a quick look at the kind of candidates it supports demonstrates their candidates of choice are often liberal to moderate on both fiscal and social issues.

That's the last thing Sen. McCain needs at the bottom of the ticket, as the RLC's partner organizations are just as bad as the candidates they support.

Please, dear Lord, no...

Via the HotAir headlines, Mike Huckabee is restarting his website on April 15, 2008. In the comments to that headline, readers are noticing some interesting similarities to this site that make me think I will be voting for a third party for president for the first time ever.

This is absolutely the worst mistake Sen. McCain could possibly make. Let's hope that MSNBC's reporting is accurate:

Huckabee’s daughter, Sarah, reiterated that the former Arkansas governor is not running for anything this year -- the filing deadline to run for Senate in his home state has passed -- and said the countdown is for the launch of Huckabee’s new Web site.

Let's all just sit back and hope that he is forming a PAC or something. It will probably be something about the FairTax, given the April 15 launch date.